What's on
Lent, Holy Week & Easter
Dear friends
As we approach Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, I want to offer you an invitation - not to do more, or to be busier, but to make room.
So much of life asks things of us: our time, our energy, our attention. The seasons of Lent and Easter ask something different. They invite us to receive - to be fed, nurtured, and gently deepened in our relationship with God.
Lent is a time for slowing our pace and turning our attention. It gives us space to reflect, to pray, and to prepare our hearts for the great and holy days that lie ahead. During Lent, our preaching and worship will help us look toward Holy Week - not simply as events to be remembered, but as a journey we are invited to walk, step by step, together.
Holy Week itself is a deeply liminal time - a threshold between what has been and what is yet to come. These services are not just re-enactments of ancient stories, nor are they only acts of remembrance. They are an active, living encounter with Christ here and now: in love and betrayal, in suffering and hope, in death and resurrection. As we pray, sing, watch, wait, and worship, we do not stand at a distance. We are drawn into the mystery of God’s love as it meets the reality of our lives today.
You are warmly encouraged - as your life allows - to make space in this season. Space for Christ. Space for prayer. Space for silence, for questions, for hope. Space that is also a gift to yourself.
If you can, I encourage you to enter this season not asking, “How much can I manage?” but perhaps, “What is one moment I can give?” One service. One act of prayer. One step into mystery. Often it is in these moments that we find ourselves pausing and thinking, this matters.
My prayer is that, together, we might allow these days to nourish us, to draw us deeper into God’s love, and to lead us - gently but truthfully - toward the hope and new life of Easter.
With every blessing for the season ahead,
Ruth
Associate Vicar
Lent Course - Keeping Holy Time, on Zoom
Study Group / Wednesdays at 8pm on Zoom, beginning 25 February
This Lent, join us for a weekly online course exploring how the Church’s journey through Lent and the Triduum can deepen our faith. We’ll spend an hour each week learning together about scripture, liturgy, and the rhythms of holy time in the season of Lent and Holy Week and how these shape us as followers of Christ.
Zoom Meeting ID: 814 9012 6330 Passcode: 617060
25/2/26 Resources for Week 1: PRAY | READ | LISTEN
Plus the three temptations extra resource here and podcast here
04/03/26 Resources for Week 2: PRAY | READ | LISTEN
Plus: Keeping Holy Time – Exploring the Origins of Holy Week with Egeria and a Palm Sunday Sermon by the Rt Rev Prof Tom Wright
11/04/26 Resources for Week 3: PRAY | READ (watch) | LISTEN
Plus: Keeping Holy Time – Maundy Thursday and The Fourth Cup by Scott Hahn and, Brant Pitre on the Bread of the Presence
18/4/26 Resources for Week 4: PRAY | READ | LISTEN (words by Issac Watts, a Stokey Resident)
Plus: Keeping Holy Time - Good Friday
(please do look at these before the session)
25/5/26 Resources for Week 5: PRAY | READ | LISTEN Hymn 1 & Hymn 2
Plus: Keeping Holy Time - Holy Saturday & Joy From Light on Darkness, The Untold Story of the Liturgy
(please do look at these before the session)
Lent Sewing Group at St Mary's N16
at St Mary’s Centre N16 9ES / Thursdays during Lent, beginning 19 February at 2pm
Mindful stitching with all materials provided, or bring your own. Drop in and spend a cosy afternoon stitching and chatting. Refreshments available.
Sunday Eucharist - 10.30am
Sunday Services throughout Lent / 22 February, 1, 8, 15, 22 March at 10.30am
Each week of Lent we will explore in our preaching and teaching different aspects of the liturgical season, focusing each week on: Lent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and beyond. We will do all we can to make sermons available so that people can journey through and prepare for the season.
Palm Sunday - 29 March at 9.55am (location below)
Procession of Palms Reading of the Passion & Eucharist
Time: 9.55 we meet with our sisters and brothers of St. Thomas Clapton Commons outside the old Sainsburys at Stamford Hill (now Lidl) and make our way to the church in procession.
This service helps us feel the tension of Holy Week - the cheers that turn to silence - and prepares us to walk more deeply with Christ in the days ahead.
Holy Tuesday - 31 March at 7.30pm
The Way of Christ: From Cradle to the Cross
Using the remarkable and unique wall paintings at St Andrew’s - which depict scenes from the life of Christ - we will journey through Scripture, prayer, and reflection.
This contemplative service traces Jesus’ life as a whole, helping us see how his love, teaching, and self-giving were always leading toward the cross - and toward the redemption of the world.
A reflective, prayerful evening, especially helpful for those who want to engage Holy Week at a gentler pace.
Maundy Thursday - 2 April at 7.30pm
The Institution of the Eucharist, Washing of Feet & Watch
On this night we remember Jesus’ final meal with his friends, his command to love, and his act of humble service.
The washing of feet invites us to encounter Christ who kneels before us, and the Watch keeps us company with Jesus in prayer as he faces the cross. This service draws us very close to the heart of Holy Week.
Good Friday - 3 April at 10.30am & 3pm
Children’s Creative Liturgy, 10.30am
A gentle, thoughtful space for children and families to explore the story of Good Friday through creativity, story, and prayer.
Liturgy of the Day, 3.00pm
A still and solemn service at the hour of Jesus’ death. Through scripture, prayer, and silence, we stand at the foot of the cross and reflect on love poured out for the world.
This service invites honesty, grief, and hope held in tension. During this service we will venerate the cross, an ancient practice of the Church, as we honour Christ’s suffering and the love revealed through it.
Easter Sunday - 5 April
Dawn Vigil 5am at St Mary's Old Church N16 with Eucharist 6am at St Mary's New Church
As dawn breaks, we gather with our partnership church, St Mary’s, to celebrate the Easter Vigil - beginning in darkness in the Old Church and moving into light in the New Church, where we share the first Eucharist of Easter.
This ancient and powerful service tells the whole story of salvation and welcomes the resurrection with fire, light, and joy. A shared breakfast follows.
Easter Day Eucharist 10.30am at St Andrew's N16, with Easter Fire & Easter Egg Hunt
We celebrate the resurrection with joy and gladness as the church is filled with light, song, and life.
This is a festival Eucharist for all ages - including an Easter Egg Hunt - as we proclaim together: Christ is risen!
Youth Alpha
St Andrew’s Church Hall, Cranwich Road entrance
Sundays beginning 22 February from 5-6pm, with pizza
We are hosting our first Alpha Course in collaboration with other local churches. Open to all youth in school years 6-11. We’ll have pizza and explore life, faith and the big questions.
For more information please contact Rev Ruth.
For details of our regular services and community events please click below